The Devils took a route most expected was coming, promoting John
MacLean from coach of the Lowell (Albany) Devils to be the next head
coach in New Jersey. MacLean is young and should have a new approach
that will do the team good, after a number of years of coming up
disappointingly short in the postseason.

John
Fischer of In Lou We Trust, as he always does, as a very lengthy
breakdown of the hiring as he goes over various pros and cons of John
MacLean being named the next coach of the Devils. Fischer is lukewarm on
the hiring, as he’s worried the move was made perhaps more out of
loyalty to arguably the greatest Devils player in franchise history
after he had just one season under his best of coaching at the
professional level. Says John, speaking of one of his “cons” of the
hiring:

When things go south for some period of time
for this team – and it will
happen at some point – what will MacLean fall back on? When a player
comes to him with an issue, will MacLean have the acumen to handle the
issue well for both sides? These are questions I’m sure were raised,
but his inexperience doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence at this
juncture. MacLean has been a head coach for Lowell last season and that
was his only season of being a head coach in pro hockey. He’s still
relatively new and still learning. Fortunately, the promotion of
Robinson, who has been a head coach for several years in LA and NJ, to
be an assistant can help and teach MacLean further.

The
initial reaction by Fischer is one of cautious optimism, especially in
light of the news that MacLean isn’t expected to make sweeping changes
on the team and that the one issue that might have been at the heart of
the matter — Lou Lamoriello — is still in charge and likely picked a
coach he’s certain will be a company man.

Fischer also
acknowledges that hiring MacLean from within the organization could be a
good thing, as the three previous hires were from outside the Devils’
organization. MacLean is familiar with the players and the system, and
there shouldn’t be much — if any — of a rough transition from Lemaire
to MacLean. In fact, even if MacLean doesn’t change much overall, you
would hope that the team and the players will respond to a coach like
MacLean much more favorably.

He might not be making sweeping
changes, but it’s not as if the Devils need complete rebuilding. What
needs to be done is for the coach to find a way for the players to
believe in what they are trying to do on the ice, something that wasn’t
in place last season. MacLean may be young and relatively new, but
Lamoriello is confident in him as a coach.

Too confident? Well, he
didn’t seem to be looking elsewhere for a coach and didn’t go on a
long, drawn out search for coaches. MacLean was his first choice and
that’s who will be behind the bench next season in New Jersey.